Futures options for copper would be China’s first for an industrial product and serve as a risk management tool in non-ferrous metals derivatives trading, the financial newspaper said, without providing a timeframe for the launch.

A futures option contract gives the buyer the right to assume a futures position at a specified price.

The China Securities Journal reported in March that the ShFE was studying new commodity derivative products, including options for copper, aluminum alloy and alumina.

China is the world’s largest copper consumer and copper is the most traded base metal on the Shfe.

In the first half of 2017, the trading volume in ShFE domestic copper futures stood at 52.79 million lots, with a turnover of 12.35 trillion yuan ($1.86 trillion), the Shanghai Securities News said.